Salivary Alpha-Amylase, Caries, Bleeding And Calculus In Adolescents

To study associations between salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) and dental caries, bleeding and calculus among adolescents. We performed a cross-sectional study including 390 adolescents aged 15–17 years in three Russian regions. Periodontal health was presented as the number of sextants with bleeding and calculus, while caries experience was demonstrated using the DMFT index. sAA concentration was determined by ELISA, and its associations with the outcomes were assessed with multivariable Poisson regression adjusted for age, gender and region. Prevalence ratios (PR) were presented with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Tests for linear trends were also calculated. A significant association was found between sAA concentration and both the intensity (p-for-trend=0.041) and prevalence of caries (p-for-trend=0.045). Adolescents with the highest sAA levels were more likely to have caries (PR=1.45, 95%CI:1.18–1.77) in crude analysis only. An inverse association between sAA and the number of sextants with calculus (p-for-trend=0.002) was found. Adolescents with sAA in the second (PR=0.63, 95%CI:0.33–0.92), third (PR=0.61, 95%CI:0.39–0.95) and fourth (PR=0.50, 95%CI:0.33–0.76) quartiles were less likely to have calculus than the reference group. We observed a direct association between sAA and caries and inverse dose-response relationship between sAA and number of sextants with calculus. The findings need replication in other settings. Potential mechanisms will be discussed.